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Matthew Edwards, a senior in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is the winner of the 2012 Newport Undergraduate Award for Photonics. His thesis presents a new imaging technique called Femtosecond Laser Electronic Excitation Tagging (FLEET) which uses an ultrafast pulsed laser to directly write lines in air by dissociating nitrogen. These lines of excited atomic and molecular species continue to fluoresce for a time after the laser has finished, enabling their movements to be captured with a time delayed camera. This novel approach provides a revolutionary capability for characterizing the structure of turbulent flows. His advisor, Prof. Richard Miles adds, “Through Matthew’s research and his inspired examination of its capabilities, FLEET promises to open up a new era in understanding complex aerodynamics.”